


Fever Pitch!

by tunaspikes



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Baseball, F/F, Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-07-24 03:22:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7491459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tunaspikes/pseuds/tunaspikes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Love Live: The School Idol Project Baseball AU! Let's join the journey and the daily life of our beloved µ's as they walk their way to the epitome of high school baseball, Koshien! (This story is already posted at FF.net)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello guys! This is my first Love Live story and has been posted at FF.net since last April. I'm posting this here so that it can be read by people in this site. I'm going to slowly update this here, together with my updated versions of the chapters.Thank you and enjoy!

Chapter 1

The scorching heat radiating from the summer sun was felt by everyone inside the stadium, but they paid it no concern. All that matters is what is happening below in the field. Loud cheers from the fans in the stands echoed, wanting to be heard by the players standing in the field below. People wearing the same uniforms from the two separate dugouts on the other side of each field were cheering for their respective teammates and friends standing under the blazing sun.  
This is it; the last inning of the final game of the Tokyo qualifying tournament before going to Koshien, the dream of every baseball player. Only one team from all of the schools in Tokyo will qualify. This is high school baseball. This is for Koshien. In the back of the stadium, a big screen shows the score between the final two teams from more than 50 schools in Tokyo:

5-4

As the next batter stood up from the on-deck circle, a huge roar of cheers erupted from the stands: The clean-up hitter has arrived. Fixing up the ponytail of her blond hair unto the helmet firmly and making sure that her batting gloves are secure; she gazed upon her team’s dugout to see the coach’s instruction and acknowledged it by nodding her head. Before walking to the batter’s box, she saw her best friend’s worried turquoise eyes looking straight at her from the dugout. Crooking up her mouth a little, she gave her a reassuring smile before turning back and walked to the batter’s box. She lifted up her bat, and with her ice blue eyes, she stared through the opponent’s pitcher that is making her wind up for the first pitch. Observing the ball’s trajectory through the home plate through the catcher’s mitt, the umpire behind shouted, “Strike!” 

Drowning out the loud cheers from behind, she lowered her bat and closed her eyes, imagining the ball’s course and anticipating the next one. After exhaling out a long breath, she opened her eyes and focused again on the pitcher. Gripping her bat tightly, she readied herself again. 

She hit a foul ball that fell near the edge of the right field at the second pitch. After that, a couple of balls flew by her onto the catcher’s mitt. 

Two balls and two strikes. 

‘Two balls and two strikes. One more strike and the game will end.’

She gripped her bat securely as the pitcher started to wind up her fifth pitch. Like in a slow motion, she caught the trajectory of the ball and saw the inside pitch. She swung her bat, as if her life is on the line. And as the barrel of her bat nears upon the incoming ball…  
…  
…

_

“Urgh…” A small, quiet groan was heard inside a room.

The blond haired student council president opened her eyes slowly and found herself slumped over the middle of the desk of the student council. As she slowly raised her arms to wipe away the grogginess in her eyes, she felt something fall down behind her. Turning to look at what fell, she saw a green blanket sprawled in the floor. She tried to crouch down to get the blanket, when a small giggle from her right startled her awake from still dazed self. 

“Aw Ericchi, you’re so cute when you’re waking up.” Her best friend spoke up with a twinkle in her eyes.

“N-nozomi!” Eli, the quarter Russian student council president exclaimed after being surprised by her best friend. “Mou! You should have woken me up when you saw me sleeping earlier. The freshman orientation of the school clubs will start next week and I have too much work piled up on the tabl-…” She stopped herself after glancing at the now empty space in front of her desk.

“What Ericchi?” Nozomi happily asked her blond friend as she skipped around her and picked up the blanket on the floor.

“D-did you finish all of those?” She asked Nozomi as she stood up went to the filing drawer at the side of the room to check all the records and documents that she needed to look upon and approve this afternoon, or so she thought.

“Yep!” Nozomi replied as she shuffled her tarot cards while looking at something outside the window of the student council. She turned back to look at Eli and raised the Judgment card. “You shouldn’t wear yourself out like this Ericchi. It’s just the start of the year.”

“I’m fine.” Eli curtly replied. “Anyway, don’t you have to go to the shrine later?” She asked her.

‘Trying to change the subject again Ericchi?’ Nozomi thought as she replied to her, “Nope. I’m going to help at the shrine tomorrow morning.”

Eli glanced at the somewhat bluish-orange sky and realized that it’s getting a bit late. “Are you finished with everything for today?” She asked Nozomi while fixing up her school bag.

“I’m all ready to go. Let’s go home?” Nozomi replied then walked to the student council door.

After finishing up, Eli turned off the lights and closed the door of the student council. Together, they went to the shoe lockers and wore their leather shoes. They went outside the school and walked to the gates. Occasionally joking about her friend’s cute sleeping face earlier, Nozomi looked back to Eli when she realized that her friend is not following her anymore.

Her eyes soften as she saw Eli standing and gazing at the baseball field of their school, Otonakizaka Academy. A couple of students were practicing their batting, particularly a short black twin-tailed girl and a taller blue-haired girl and some were running around in laps. As Eli saw one of the people doing laps look up to her, her eyes widened up and she realized that she’s been staring at them for too long. She immediately turned away, closed her eyes and started to walk away towards the school gates.  
Not even taking three steps from her position, Eli felt a hand grabbing her wrist gently. She stopped in her tracks and stared again at those uncanny, worried turquoise eyes. “Eric-“

“Nozomi.” Eli stopped her friend from saying anything else. She felt guilty as she stopped her friend from trying to say something that she didn’t want to hear again. Wanting to change the mood, she tried to think of something that would ease the atmosphere.  
Smiling, she said to her: 

“Want to eat some parfaits on the way home?”


	2. Chapter 2

A continuous ringing of the bell echoed throughout the school as it signified the start of the lunch break. Several students raced through the halls of the academy just to be able to buy the legendary “Chocolate-Flavored Yakisoba Bread” of Otonakizaka Academy Canteen. It was so special that it was added to the existing 7 mysteries of the school. Only 3 pieces of the special bread is made for sale every day.

As some of the students are busily trying to get the coveted prize of the school canteen, a certain purpled-haired girl was walking around the school halls. Humming a familiar tune, she wandered around the halls trying to look for someone. Her eyes twinkled when she saw a short twin-tailed girl turning right into the next corridor.

“Ni-co-cchi!!” A very cheerful Nozomi exclaimed as she proceeded to hug her friend behind.

“Uwaa-waa~~! N-no-nozomi!!!!” Yazawa Nico shouted at the one hugging her from behind. “H-hey! Watch where you’re touching!!!” Nico yelled as Nozomi proceeded to do her Washi-washi to the poor soul.

“Hmm~~ No improvement there Nicocchi~~ and we are already in our third year of high school. Tsk, tsk, tsk…” Nozomi said as she continued to do her washi-washi max to Nico.

“What the hell Nozomi!” Nico exclaimed as she removed herself from the clutches of the vice president of the student council, while crossing her arms protecting herself from further onslaught. Several students in the halls are already curious and staring at the commotion that the two 3rd years started, wondering about what’s happening. After a while, the students left and went with their own businesses. 

“Ahahaha~ Good afternoon, Ni-co-cchi~!” Nozomi greeted Nico with a bit of a smirk in her face.

Nico crossed her arms, leaned at the wall beside her and looked at Nozomi with deadpanned eyes “So? What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Aw, can’t I just be friendly with my very cute friend?” Nozomi replied, leaning at the same wall as Nico. 

As if they are left in their own world, a comfortable silence enveloped both of them until Nico spoke again, “…She’s not with you?” she asked.

Nozomi closed her eyes and hummed in reply. “She’s in the student council. I’m going to go there after this.” She said.

“Tsk.” Nico grumbled in annoyance. “Is she going to ignore us until we graduate?!” She added, anger slowly building up inside her.

“Nicocchi. Just give her more time.” Nozomi answered Nico calmly. “Anyway, you’re the new captain, right? How is it going?” 

Nico balled her hands trying to fight her frustrations. “You know that there is only one captain, right? And it can never be me.” She replied in a low voice. “Anyway, you know the situation, the senpais graduated, leaving only us on the team. And with a couple of people deciding to quit-“ She looked at Nozomi harshly, before she continued “We couldn’t even have a full roster for the team. We have to rely on recruiting the first years.”

With an apologetic look, Nozomi tried to calm her friend down when she heard someone call for them.

“Nico-chaaann! And Nozomi-chan as well!” A bouncing orange-haired girl proceeded to glomp the two third years.

“Honoka! Behave yourself!” A blue-haired girl reprimanded her friend as she tried to remove Honoka from the two surprised girls.

“Ahaha… Umi-chan, I’m sure Honoka-chan is just excited to see Nico-chan and Nozomi-chan together.” The grayish-brown hair tried to calm Umi down. 

“Kotori! You’re spoiling Honoka again!” Umi tried to scold Kotori as well, but when she saw Kotori’s puppy dog eyes, she raised her hands in defeat. Shaking her head, she proceeded to talk to Nozomi and Nico.

“Nozomi, Good afternoon.” Umi greeted Nozomi before facing Nico. “Anyway, Nico. I thought we had a meeting at the club room during lunch break. We have to talk about the freshman welcome party scheduled next week.” 

“Ah, right. Sorry. I was on my way there when Nozomi suddenly pounced on me earlier.” With a last look to Nozomi, she added, “Let’s go. Lunch break is almost over.”

“What about you, Nozomi-chan?” Honoka asked Nozomi.

“Ah, Honoka-chan, I’m going to the student council after this.” Seeing a deflated look on Honoka, she added, “Nice to see all of you! Bye!” Nozomi waved to the group before turning back and proceeded to go to the student council. 

A moment of silence passed through the group as Nozomi left them. “Ah… She left.” Honoka sadly said after waving back to Nozomi.

“Don’t worry Honoka-chan, I’m sure everything is going to be just fine.” Kotori reassured Honoka.

“I sure hope so…” Honoka said as she and Kotori followed Umi and Nico back to their club room.

-

A small knock was heard by the student council president as she continues to read the document in front of her. She said a small “Come in” and didn’t pay attention to the person who entered the room.

A few moments of silence engulfed the room as the student council president turned a page of whatever she was reading. 

“Aw, Ericchi, ignoring me? I’m hurt.” Nozomi said tearfully as she tried to wipe her (fake) tears away.

Eli suddenly shot her head up and looked at the person who spoke, “N-nozomi! I’m sorry; I didn’t realize you’re in the room.” 

Nozomi laughed lightly at her best friend’s face at the moment and said, “You’re so engrossed in what you are doing that I think you didn’t even realize that lunch break is almost over, right?”

Eli looked at the clock perched on the top of the cabinet and realized that they are almost late for their afternoon class. She looked at Nozomi and asked her while fixing up the documents in the room, “And why did you only arrive just now? I thought that you’re going to follow me here after you talked to the teacher earlier.”

Nozomi walked through the room and helped Eli organize the papers and said, “I just had a run in with Nicocchi earlier.” Her eyes saw the small jerk in Eli that disappeared immediately after she continued organizing the papers.

Eli replied a small hum and decided to stop the conversation there. She proceeded to leave the room with Nozomi when she said, “Let’s go, we don’t want to be late for afternoon class.”

-

The afternoon bell signaled the end of another school day. Several students went on to go to their respective clubs while others are already leaving the school grounds to spend time with their friends. Because Nozomi, with another classmate, is assigned as the class representative for today, they both have to collect all the paperwork of their classmates and proceed to give them to the faculty room. After a bit of a problem with the paper of one of their classmates, Nozomi and her classmate finished their duty for this afternoon. After saying goodbye to each other, Nozomi then continued to go straight to the student council room. As she was walking around the halls, she saw one of her friends passing fliers around the school grounds from the window.

“P-please join the b-baseball team!” Umi meekly asked some of the students while handing out fliers about their club at the school grounds.

Nozomi chuckled a little after she saw Umi, and she decided to take a small detour and went to the school grounds.

“Umi-chan! What are you doing~?” She playfully asked Umi after seeing her a bit flustered while handing out the flyers.

“Nozomi! Help me!” Umi exclaimed then went to bury her face to Nozomi. ” Kotori and Honoka forced me earlier hand out our club’s fliers to the first year students while they are trying to fix up the baseball field! I can’t do this, I’m so embarrassed!” She said while sobbing.

Nozomi patted Umi’s head softly and raised her head. After wiping some of Umi’s tears, she said, “Umi-chan, you know that Honoka-chan and Kotori-chan are just helping you fix your self-confidence.” After fixing her up, she added, “Come on, it’s almost time for your practice. I’m sure they’re waiting for you already.”

After waving Umi goodbye, Nozomi smiled and returned back to her original destination. Gently opening the door to the student council, she saw Eli slumped down at the desk in front of a couple of pile of papers. Shaking her head a bit, she went beside her and poked at Eli’s cheeks. “Aw, she’s so cute. I guess I’ll let her sleep in a bit.” She said, giggling a little.

She went to the far side cabinet in the room and searched for a blanket. She put the green blanket that she found around Eli, to not let her catch a cold and went to get the pile of papers in front of Eli. After seating down beside Eli to start the paperwork, she looked at her gently and said, ”Mou, you shouldn’t worry me like this, Ericchi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Laughter between several students was heard in the lone classroom at the right side of the second floor of Otonakizaka Academy. Inside, several students wearing blue ribbons are happily enjoying their afterschool activities. Some students have already made their group of friends, even if it’s only just the start of the school year. Others are deciding on what club they should go for, and are waiting for freshman welcome party. 

One orange short-haired girl went inside the said classroom and looked for her friend. “Kayo-chin~!” she called out and proceeded to hug her friend when she found her reading a book at her table.

“R-rin-chan!” Koizumi Hanayo exclaimed, surprised by her friend’s antics while fixing her glasses up.

Rin went in front of Hanayo’s desk and slammed her hands down, further surprising her friend. “Kayo-chin! What club are you going to join, nya~?” 

“W-well, I-I want to do something a-athletic… a sports c-club or something.” Hanayo slowly said while pushing up her glasses up.

“Hmm… Okay! The freshman welcome party will start in thirty minutes! Let’s go, Kayo-chin!” Rin said and grabbed Hanayo’s hand to drag her away.

“Wa-wait! Rin-chan!! S-somebody help me!!!” Hanayo cried out while being dragged around by Rin to the auditorium.

-

Honoka is running around the school, fetching papers and props that Umi and the others needed for the freshmen welcome party. It was their best chance to introduce their club to the first years and convince them to join their baseball team. They needed additional members since they can’t even form a whole 9-member roster for this year. Compared to the last year when their graduated senpais consisted more than half of the team, the team today only consists of four persons, Nico-chan, Umi-chan, Kotori-chan and herself. They need five more members to complete the roster. 

If only the two others didn’t….

Honoka shook her head and continued to run. She had to believe what Kotori-chan said, “I’m sure everything is going to be just fine.”

She passed through the buildings and went on the school grounds. When she saw a red-haired girl seemingly gazing through the baseball field, she stopped completely and did a double-take. “She seems familiar… Hmm…” She thought while slowly walking towards the girl. 

Honoka tapped the shoulder of the red-haired girl to get her attention when the girl looked at her. Her eyes widened up when she realized why this girl seems familiar to her, this red-haired girl is on the cover of the sports magazine she had read yesterday.

“N-Ni-Nishikino Maki?!” Honoka blurted out loud.

The red-haired girl’s eyebrow slowly rose in annoyance to the person who disrupted her. “Yes? Do I know you?” She asked while twirling her hair.

“N-no. I’m sorry, I’m Kousaka Honoka, 2nd year and part of the baseball team of the school.” She gulped down and added, “You’re Nishikino Maki, right? The little league prodigy? Please, please join the baseball team!” Honoka ended with a big bow.

Maki’s eyebrows furrowed and a small frown appeared on her face as she saw the person in front of her bow down. “I refuse. I don’t get you at all.” She said back to her as she left, leaving Honoka behind.

Honoka slowly raised her head, looked directly at the blue sky and whispered as she pumped her hands up, “I won’t give up.”

-

“Honoka! Where have you been?! Did you sneak around to eat some bread again? The welcome party is already starting!” Umi scolded Honoka yet again as they heard the student council president, Eli say her opening remarks on the stage.

Kotori held Umi’s hand from behind and said, “Umi-chan, I’m sure Honoka-chan has a good reason for her to be almost late to the ceremony, right Honoka-chan?” She looked at Honoka, who seems to be at the verge of crying from Umi’s wrath.

“Um, I saw Nishikino Maki earlier at the school grounds.” Honoka meekly said to them after trying to hide from Umi behind Kotori.

Nico, who is just listening on the usual bantering of the second years perked up when she heard the name Honoka said. “Did you just say, Nishikino Maki?” Nico said as she joined the conversation. ‘Maki-chan…?’

“Yes. She’s on the cover of the sports magazine I read yesterday and she wears a blue ribbon, which means that she’s a first year! We can scout her to the team!” Honoka exclaimed until she added slowly, “Well…, I just tried to ask her earlier and she flat out refused me…”

“She said it like this: I refuse. I don’t get you at all.” Honoka proceeded to mimic Maki earlier, complete with the twirling of her hair. Nico suddenly doubled over, hands over her stomach and her mouth trying to stifle her growing laughter.

“No wonder she refused you. Did you really read what’s on that magazine?” Umi asked Honoka.

“Um… No? I was just about to read it when Yukiho suddenly came in my room with a plate of dango, and well… I just ate it and slept after?” Honoka answered Umi and then slowly walked backwards to hide again in Kotori’s back.

“Um, Honoka-chan, the report on that magazine…” Kotori started to explain when Nozomi showed up in the back stage carrying some papers.

“Hm? Getting ready for the club’s introduction?” Nozomi asked the group, oblivious to the previous conversation between them.

“Nozomi-chan! We were just getting ready.” Honoka answered and continued to hug Nozomi. 

Nozomi patted Honoka’s head and laughed lightly at her kouhai’s antics. “Well, good luck! I hope you find more people to join the team.” She said to them.

Nico crossed her arms and said to Nozomi, “Hmph. What we need is for you two-“She stopped when she had an eye to eye contact with the student council president who entered the back stage after her speech.

Eli was surprised and stopped walking when she saw the baseball team on the back stage together with Nozomi. Breaking eye contact with Nico, she proceeded to walk to Nozomi and said, “Nozomi, do you have the documents? Let’s look them over at the back.”

“Eli!” Umi started, pausing a bit before continuing. “Your spot is always open in the team. Your place will always be there when you come back to us!”

With Nozomi’s hand gently squeezing Eli’s after Umi’s remark, Eli stopped in her tracks for a bit before tilting her head back in the direction of the group behind. She let out a small wistful smile before turning back again.

Nozomi genuinely smiled and said back to the group, “I think your club is the next one to introduce yourselves to the first years. Good luck!” After that, Nozomi and Eli left to do their stuff leaving the shocked baseball team behind.

“D-did you see that? Eli-chan just smiled at us!!” Honoka exclaimed loudly after the two left.

“Well, she used to smile all the time before… Now, it seems like she’s being burdened by the world. Her face always seems so serious and sad at the same time.” Kotori added.

“She’s just so stubborn! After all of us, including the senpais said that what happened can’t be helped. She just continued to blame herself until she left the team. Making that stupid excuse that she’ll become the student council president and has more important responsibilities.” Nico ranted out loud while crossing her arms in the process.

“Let’s just continue this later. We’re the next club to be called.” Umi tried to calm Nico down and went to get their props to the stage.

“Next, the Baseball Club! Please proceed to the stage!”

“Let’s go!” Nico called out to them before they went to the stage for their introduction.

-

After the first year students went out of the auditorium after the freshman welcome party, several upperclassmen are already out in front to persuade them to join their respective clubs. Rin and Hanayo exited the auditorium, and tried to peel away from the hounding upperclassmen who want to recruit them to their clubs. 

“So Kayo-chin, did you decide on what club to join nya~? What about track and field?”Rin asked Hanayo after stretching out her arms after sitting for so long in the auditorium.

“U-umm, I-I don’t think…” Hanayo started to reply when Rin interrupted her, “Ah! You want to join the baseball team, right? Since your father is an ex-pro baseball player, and you’re an avid fan of the Yomiuri Giants!”

“W-well, it’s true that I like baseball, but I’m not really sporty and I’m not really a fast runner. And they said that they made the finals of the Tokyo qualifiers a year ago, I may not catch up to them.” Hanayo tried to reason out to Rin.

“But you’re good at catching balls! I know because, I’m always your practice partner!” Rin beamed at Hanayo. “Come on! Let’s go to the senpais and let them know that we’ll join them!” She added, grabbing Hanayo’s dragged her to the baseball clubroom. “Wait Rin-chan!! S-somebody help me!!!” Hanayo cried out after being dragged around by Rin again.


	4. Chapter 4

A continuous sound of an alarm enveloped Honoka’s room as she slept through tangled blankets and bed sheets. It was still a bit dark outside but for Honoka and the others, they normally wake up this early everyday for their morning practice. Reluctantly, Honoka opened her tired eyes, shut the alarm off and stretched out her arms to prepare for the morning. 

Grabbing a piece of bread after eating the traditional breakfast prepared by her mother, she ran outside to the direction of their school. After a bit of a detour to the nearest shrine, Kanda Myojin, for her morning prayer, a ray of sunshine has already peeked through the sky when she reached the school grounds. Hurrying a bit more, she reached their clubroom and changed her clothes to her jersey and went outside to the field. 

She saw two of her friends already in the field doing their warm up when she jogged right next to them. “Sorry, Umi-chan! I promise I won’t be late again!” She bowed down in front of Umi who is just about to scold Honoka about her tardiness. 

Before Umi started her usual lecture to Honoka, Kotori interrupted her and said, “You’re not really that late Honoka-chan. Look, Nico-chan is still not here.”

“She just mailed me earlier and said that one of her siblings is a bit sick, so she will be a little late for morning practice.” Umi answered Kotori.

Honoka sighed as she glanced through the empty field. “Well, it’s really a bit sad to see the field being so empty…” Honoka stated out loud.

“No worries, Honoka-chan! The baseball try-outs are scheduled later after school and maybe we will have some first years on the team!” Kotori answered, trying to encourage her deflated friend.

“Come on, let’s continue the training! Honoka, since you’re late, run 10 laps around the field while pulling this.” Umi instructed Honoka while pointing out to the tire beside her.

“10 laps??!! Umi-chaaan! You’re a demon!!” Honoka cried out loud while tying a rope to the tire and her.

“I’ll make it to 20 if you continue to whine, Honoka.” Umi glared at her.

After Honoka tearfully started her laps, Umi sighed and shook her head. She faced Kotori and asked, “Want some fielding practice?”

-

When Nico came a bit later, she saw Honoka panting hard while running around the field while pulling a tire behind her. Umi, on the other hand was batting some fly balls to Kotori who is positioned on the outfield. She walked until she was near Umi and said to her, “Sorry I’m late.”

When Umi saw Nico, she called out at Kotori and said that they should take a break. She lowered her bat and answered Nico, “It can’t be helped. Family and health is more important.”

Nico gazed through the empty field and said, “But really, from twenty people last year, down to four. I’m sure you can pitch well but, we have no catcher and our starting pitcher is gone as well. We sure have bad luck on our side.” 

“Isn’t it time to talk to them again? I mean, the tournament is slowly getting closer and we need to practice again as a team. ” Umi replied to her.

“Let’s wait until we finish the tryouts later, then I’ll be the one to talk to them.” Nico answered in finality before she slapped Umi’s back hard and ran to the field.

-

A comfortable silence enveloped the student council room as two people sitting down the desk are doing their daily paperwork. Only the jotting of pen and paper and a soft hum were heard inside the room. When the constant sound of scribbling beside Nozomi suddenly stopped, she glanced to her right and observed her friend as her friend gazed upon the paper she was holding. Nozomi slowly put her pen down and observed Eli as she leaned her arms on the table.

“Ericchi~” Nozomi decided to call her friend out of her stupor. “What are you looking at?” she asked her.

Eli jumped a little, surprised by the sudden call from beside her. She immediately put down the paper that she was staring at and proceeded to get the next one. “N-nothing.”

“Hmmm…~” Nozomi hummed, not convinced at her friend as she swiped away the paper Eli put down. She looked at the paper and smiled softly at what she read. “This is the current status of the baseball club, Ericchi.”

“Yes. And so are the other papers on this pile, Nozomi; the current status of all the clubs. We’re looking at this so that we’ll be ready when the budget for this year will be passed.” Eli answered Nozomi as put another paper on the finished pile.

“And yet, you are staring at this particular one.” Nozomi told her as she dangled the paper in front of Eli. “You’re worried, aren’t you?”

“I’m not.” Eli replied as she took the paper in front of her and put it on top of the finished pile on her right. She looked at the clock at the wall and checked the time. “Nozomi, let’s go back to the classroom. It’s almost time for afternoon class. Let’s just continue this after school.”

Nozomi sighed and stood up from her chair. She helped Eli put the paperwork on their respective filing cabinet before proceeding back at their classroom. When they approached their classroom, they saw Nico leaning on the wall beside their classroom door.

“Ah Nicocchi~! What are you doing here?” Nozomi said as she waved at her friend.

“Nozomi, I need to talk to you. This won’t take long.” Nico said after staring at Eli for a bit.

“Sure, sure~” Nozomi smilingly agreed at Nico. She looked back at Eli and said, “Ericchi, why don’t you go inside the classroom first? I’ll go in later.” Eli just shrugged as she walked passed them and opened the door beside them.

As Eli opened the sliding door to their classroom, a large shout followed by a flying blackboard eraser suddenly entered her field of vision and she instinctively raised her left hand to catch the incoming projectile. With a loud smack, Eli completely stopped the eraser with her hand; however a cloud of chalk engulfed her as she sneezed loudly. One of their classmates continuously apologized to her as another one tried to dust off the chalk of Eli. Some of her classmates clapped their hands in awe. 

“Wow, as expected of the student council president…”

Nico and Nozomi on the other hand, laughed so hard outside the classroom as they saw the whole incident directly. “Eli, you still got it. Hahahaha!” Nico snickered loudly.

Nozomi tried to wipe away the forming tears in her eyes as she tried to calm herself down from laughing. She approached Eli as the two students apologizing to her are seemingly on the verge of crying from the cold glare coming from Eli. “Come on girls, no one got hurt, I guess you have learned your lesson?” She said to the two girls as she tried to take their place in dusting the chalk of Eli. 

Eli looked at them with an impassive gaze before she closed her eyes and sighed. She looked back at Nozomi who smiled a bit before looking back at their classmates. “It’s a good thing that I was the one who entered the classroom. Any other person would get hit by that. Just don’t do it again, okay?” She said as she smiled a little to them. The two girls bowed apologetically again before settling down on their respective desks. 

“Nice catch, Ericchi~” Nozomi leaned closer to Eli and whispered to her ear as she finished dusting off the chalk on her. 

Eli blushed as she turned back to look at Nozomi to answer her. Beside her, she saw a blank, irritated expression from Nico. “Flirting in front of your classmates? How unlike you Eli.” She said.

Eli blushed darker from Nico’s remark and immediately turned back to go to her seat to get away from the both of them. Nozomi giggled at Eli’s action before turning back to Nico, “So Nicocchi, what did you want to talk about?” 

-

After school, the students of Otonakizaka academy started to disperse and go to their respective clubs. Including the baseball club, other clubs such as the basketball club and the volleyball club are also doing their tryouts in the afternoon. 

Honoka and the others are already setting up the baseball field for the incoming tryouts. They are very thankful that even if they only have four members in the team, they have been blessed by having three managers, Hideko, Fumiko, and Mika. They are Honoka’s classmates and are very helpful and dedicated in helping them since they were first year students.

They have positioned three sections inside: (1) Pitching section, (2) Batting section, and (3) Fielding Station. But before that, they should first test their physical parameters such as throwing strength and speed. After they finished setting up, they saw five first years waiting outside the field. After looking at them, three of the first years look like they are not sure on what they are going to do, while the other two seems determined. They welcomed them inside and introduced themselves.

“Good afternoon everyone! Welcome to the baseball team tryouts! As we have said during the welcome party, we are currently recruiting new members on our team. Last year, we finished runner up at the Tokyo regional tournament for the Summer Koshien. 

However, majority of the team members graduated last March, and we are hoping that some new blood can help us reach further that what we achieved last year. Remember though that even if we are small in number, our practice will still be carried out in the strictest way possible to be able to achieve our goal for this year which is to win the Summer Koshien.” Nico welcomed the first years into their tryouts. After looking behind to the other members, she nodded to them before facing the first years and said, “First, we are going to introduce ourselves.” 

One by one, they introduced themselves to them.

“I’m Yazawa Nico, a third year student. I’m usually batting first last year and my position is protecting the second base.”

“I’m Kousaka Honoka! Second year and my position is center field. I try to protect the outfield to the best of my abilities!”

“I’m Minami Kotori, also a second year student. My position is left field. Nice to meet you all!”

“Lastly, I’m Sonoda Umi. I’m the first baseman of the team.”

After introducing themselves, one first year’s hand shot up and asked a question, “Is there’s no catcher or pitcher on the team?"

Umi stepped up and answered the inevitable question from them, “I’m also the substitute pitcher for the team. As for the starting catcher and the pitcher of the team, they have other important things to do and they will not come today.”

After a moment of silence, Umi clapped her hands together and asked out loud, “No more questions?” After no response, she added, “Let’s start the tryouts!”

After the physical tests on the students, they saw a stand out runner amongst the five students. This is the short orange-haired girl that runs like a cat. This was also proven during the fielding test. The reflex of the girl was undoubtedly on a national level. However, much to the dismay of the members of the team, nobody tried out for the pitcher position.

Umi was the one doing the fielding practice. She hit some line drives and ground balls to the people trying out as infielders and some fly balls to the outfielders. She tried to observe the first years to see who from the five people will be the one they will need on the team.

The sun has almost set when they finished the tryouts for the team. Sweat and dirt clung on to the first years as they tiredly lined up next to each other. But before Umi started to speak up, three of the five students slowly raised their hands up to say something to them. 

“Um, senpai. We are not going to continue our application anymore to your team.”

“If the actual practice is going to be harder than this, then we will not be able to take it.”

All at once, the three of them said, “We are very sorry!”

A moment of silence passed through the baseball team members before Umi spoke up, “Very well. Thank you for your honest feedback. We do not take half-hearted players on our team and if you think that you cannot follow on our training, then we accept your decision.” Umi composedly replied to the three of them. She waited for the three of them to leave the field before she asked the remaining two, “What about you girls?”

Looking at each other, the orange-haired said, “We are going to stay nya~! Right, Kayo-chin?” Rin said before she hugged her friend after.

“Of course, we’ll stay senpai!” Hanayo said while pumping her hands out.

“Really?! You guys will stay?! I love you guys!” Honoka exclaimed and then proceeded to hug the both of them. 

“Honoka! I’m not done yet!” Umi said as she removed Honoka from the two girls. “Ahem, you two will be officially part of the team effective now. Your positions will be decided by us after we deliberate using our observations from earlier today.” She proudly said to the two of them.

“Thank you very much senpai!!!” Rin and Hanayo both said at once as they bowed to them.

After Rin and Hanayo left, the four of them went and fixed the field back to its original state. They raked the field to straighten it out and collected all the balls left scattered on the field. “Only two persons, huh…” Kotori commented out loud while carrying the box of balls back to their storage room. 

“Be glad that there were at least two persons who entered the team. It means that if the other two come back, then we only need one other person to complete the roster.” Nico replied to Kotori as she helped carried the box as well.

As the two of them were carrying out the box, Nico raised her head to outside of the field as she saw someone familiar turning back and walking away. Her eyes widened as she realized who it is and shouted before she ran away, “Honoka! Help Kotori on this. Umi, sorry I need to go ASAP!” 

Nico ran like the wind as she tried to catch up to a certain red-haired girl. As she turned a corner, she stopped and called out to her, “Maki-chan!”

The red-haired girl slowly turned back to look at the very familiar voice who called out to her. After a brief staring contest between the two of them, Maki sighed and called her back, “Nico-chan.”


	5. Chapter 5

A large mansion sat at the middle of a quiet neighborhood as one twin-tailed girl pushed the doorbell to the said mansion. The gates to the house opened and she entered the house to the giant living room. A grand piano sat at the middle of the room with an unused fireplace at the side, typical of the Nishikino household. Several trophies and medals draped the walls and the cases inside the room. She sat at the sofa while waiting when a beautiful, middle-aged lady entered the room and greeted her, “Nico-chan, is that you? Long time no see!”

Nico stood up and bowed at Maki’s mother. “Good evening, Nishikino-san. I’m sorry for the intrusion.”

“It’s been a long time hasn’t it? Two years? Wait a moment, I’ll call Maki. Or do you want to go to her room? I’m sure she won’t mind.”

Nico pondered a bit before answering, “I guess, I’ll go up to her room.” 

Nico wandered around the large corridors of Maki’s house. It has been a long time since she visited, but she remembered every part of it like she has always been here. As she came across a big, white door, she closed her eyes and knocked two times. After some shuffling from inside the room, the knob twisted and opened, showing a pajama-clad Maki in front of Nico. Nico, clamped her mouth shut, trying to stifle the incoming laughter as she saw a surprised look from Maki, who is still wide-eyed at her. “Pfft. M-Maki-chan. Hahahaha!”

Maki recovered as she heard Nico and said, “Mou! Nico-chan! What are you doing here?! Anyway, come inside.”

Nico sat at Maki’s bed while Maki sat at her desk chair, crossing her legs and twirling her hair. “So, what are you doing here? And if it is something about joining the team like you asked earlier, again, I’m just going to repeat my answer. I refuse.”

“Why?”

“Why, you ask? I thought everybody has heard about it.” Maki answered as she tossed Nico a magazine with her in the cover. 

“I read about that. The little league prodigy ended her career before entering high school. During your final game, you pitched more than what you can, and as a result, you broke your arm. Your career as a pitcher is over. You declined several scholarships from prestigious schools even though they want to get you even not as a pitcher.” Nico blatantly stated out in front of Maki. “But I never knew you entered Otonakizaka. You could have told me.” She added.

“…You knew?” Maki-chan whispered out before she added, “A-anyway, I’m planning to study medicine in college, so my time as a baseball player is now over.” She said non-chalantly.

Nico grumbled out in annoyance and said out loud, “Don’t lie to me! You’re just deluding yourself! You love baseball and you’ll not just abandon it!”

“Now, you’re just like Eli… Super headstrong and stubborn.” She muttered out loud, and Maki’s ears perked up at this.

“…Eli? You mean, Ayase Eli?” she asked.

“Yeah. So what?” Nico replied.

“Ayase Eli, the catcher?” Maki added.

“Yes! Ayase Eli, our team’s catcher! And also the student council president of the school!” Nico exclaimed, irritated at the continuous questions.

“She’s not there earlier at the tryouts.”

“W-well, t-there’s some special circumstances… Anyway! We are changing the subject! Maki-chan, you can still play baseball even if you are not a pitcher. You’re one of the best fielders out there! You can be our shortstop, or you can take my place as the second baseman, just please join the team!” Nico pleaded to Maki as she bowed down at her.

Maki was surprised at how Nico tried to convince her. She bit her lips and sighed deeply as she walked in front of Nico and raised her head. “W-well, if you really asked for it, then I’ll think about it.” She answered Nico, a soft blush formed at her cheeks.

-

Meanwhile, on the other side of the neighborhood, a comfortable silence enveloped a house on this quiet, spring night. Two best friends are enjoying their overnight stay at the house of another when a loud knock was casted at the bedroom door before it was opened wide. “Onee-chan!!” A loud voice entered the room where Eli is still braiding the hair of Nozomi, who is sitting down at the floor. Paying no heed at her interruption, the panting girl added, “We’re having a tryout next week at school to see who will be the starting pitcher for the year! Please help me practice!”

After finishing the braid of Nozomi, Eli stood up and walked to her sister, “Arisa, you shouldn’t barge in on anyone’s door unexpectedly. You may cause trouble for someone.”

Looking behind Eli, Arisa saw Nozomi sitting at the floor near the bed waving lightly at her, “Ah! Nozomi-oneechan! Teach me how to throw a breaking ball!” Arisa ignored her sister and kneeled in front of Nozomi with her twinkling eyes.

“Mou, Arisa.. What am I going to do with you?” Eli leaned at the door frame and smiled at her sister’s enthusiasm. She shook her head and said to her, “Arisa, get your gloves and we will wait for you downstairs.”

After Arisa left the room, Eli went to get her glove which is sitting beside her cabinet. She went to get another glove inside a box and tossed it to Nozomi. “Sorry Nozomi, teach her a breaking ball, will you?” She asked her.

As they went out in the yard, Nozomi sat down in the veranda and watched Eli as she wore her baseball glove. Nozomi continued to watch her best friend with a smile and said, “I knew you didn’t stop, Ericchi.” She said to her as she played with the ball with her right hand.

Nozomi then threw the ball into Eli’s glove and she replied, “I’m just helping Arisa.”

After some time, Arisa joined them at the yard and they proceeded to do some catch ball. Playful coaching and laughter surrounded them within their warm-up, with Arisa telling her sister and Nozomi stories from her baseball team.

After a while, Arisa asked her sister, “Onee-chan, can you catch my pitch?” Eli nodded and crouched down while raising her glove to the strike zone. Arisa took some steps backward, looked at Nozomi and said, “Nozomi-oneechan! Look at my pitch please!” 

After seeing Nozomi nod, she positioned herself and readied to pitch to her sister. She focused on her sister’s glove and started her wind up. She gripped her glove tightly as if making a barrier between her and the imaginary batter beside her sister and stepped forward, focusing on releasing the ball until her fingertips. As she released the ball, it flew by directly making a solid impact on her sister’s glove.

After a moment of silence, Eli stood up, smiling widely and said, “Wow, Arisa! Nice pitch! I’m sure you’ll be the ace pitcher if you pitch like this!”

“Really?! Thanks so much Onee-chan!” Arisa happily cried out. When she heard clapping on the side, she faced Nozomi and asked, “So? How was it Nozomi-oneechan?”

“Wow Arisa-chan, that was great! You’re really the perfect siblings, ace pitcher and ace catcher! You’re both cute as well!” Nozomi said out loud while continuously clapping at Arisa’s pitch.

“Thanks Nozomi-oneechan! But I’m no ace yet! Not like you though.” Arisa thanked Nozomi’s compliment about her pitch. 

“Nozomi! Since you’re here, let me catch your slider! You’re going to teach Arisa a breaking ball, right?” Eli laughingly called out to Nozomi.

Surprised to hear something like that out of Eli, teardrops started to form at Nozomi’s eyes and she hastily wiped them away before jogging beside Eli. She leaned closer to her ear and whispered, “Thank you, for letting me see you smile like this again. I really love this side of you, E-ric-chi~~.”

Jogging to the other side of the yard, Nozomi left Eli blushing up to the tip of her ears before Eli threw the ball hard to Nozomi, clearly from embarrassment. “Nozomi!!”

“Ahahaha~ Ericchi! Your love hurts!” She said as she felt the power behind Eli’s throw.

“Mou! Nozomi! Stop teasing me!!” Eli embarrassingly shouted back at her.

Seeing the two best friends happily shouting at each other, Arisa sat down the veranda and fondly smiled at them. It’s been a very long time since she saw her sister enjoy herself like this and she’s very thankful for Nozomi because she never gave up on her sister.

-

Nozomi was feeling thirsty and went outside Eli’s room at the middle of the night. With sleepy eyes, she slowly dragged herself to the kitchen to get something to drink when she saw someone else there already. “…Arisa-chan?”

The girl jumped a little, surprised by the sudden call. “Nozomi-oneechan?” 

Nozomi smiled as she went to get some milk inside the refrigerator, “Can’t sleep?” She asked her.

Arisa sipped through her mug of hot milk and sat down before starting, “Not really. I guess I was just so happy earlier when I saw my big sister laugh like that again after all this time.” She stopped for a bit when Nozomi sat down beside her and continued, “You see, every time I asked her to practice with me since last year, it’s like she’s in pain every time I mention anything about baseball.”

“But earlier, she looked like the person from a year ago, just smiling and enjoying herself playing baseball. I wonder if because she was with you?” Arisa asked the listening Nozomi beside her.

A bit speechless, Nozomi lightly coughed into her hand and replied, “I don’t think so, Arisa-chan. I think it’s because she loves the sport so much that they can’t leave each other behind.” She paused for a bit before continuing, “Don’t worry Arisa-chan, I’m going to make sure to return your sister’s smile.” She tried to convince not just Arisa, but also herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! And to those who left comments, I really appreciate it!


	6. Chapter 6

Last year, July…

A roar of cheers echoed throughout the baseball stadium where the final game of the Tokyo Regional Tournament is being held. The teams’ respective school bands play their school’s anthem as encouragement to their team.

The fielders of the opposite team positioned themselves far away as they expect a long ball coming from the clean-up hitter of Otonakizaka Academy.

“Go Eli-chan!!!” A loud cheer came from the Otonakizaka’s dugout as Eli prepared to bat again after two strikes and two balls. 

“Eli! My life on being drafted as a pro baseball player hangs on you! Hit it hard!” Nico also shouted out from the dugout. Eli’s lips crooked up a little from Nico’s remark as she tried to focus on the pitcher.

As she drowned out the cheers from the stands, Eli gripped her bat tightly as the pitcher began her fifth pitch. Like in a slow motion, she caught the trajectory of the ball and saw the inside pitch. She swung her bat strongly, but her eyes widened up as the ball began to break towards her. 

‘Sinker!’

She began to try to change the position of her bat to cope with the changed trajectory, but it was a bit late as the ball hit below the sweet spot of the barrel and near the handle of the bat. The bat vibrated badly as Eli’s eyes widened up when she heard a small crack somewhere. She didn’t mind it at the moment as she watched the ball that she hit fly over the glove of the second baseman that jumped out, trying to catch the ball.

‘Please fall!’ Eli mentally shouted as she ran with all her might to the first base as Umi, who is at the third base, ran towards the home plate.

The ball passed through the second baseman and fell at the middle of center field and the second base. The crowd roared widely as Umi slid through the home plate. Umi shouted in triumph as the scoreboard flipped from 5-4 to 5-5; they have tied the game at the top of the last inning. 

Standing on the first base, Eli tried to put out a guts pose as the team celebrated the tied game because now, they have a chance again to win the game. But as she tried to close her right hand, she felt a flash of pain course through and she bit her lip to not let out a cry of pain. She felt cold sweat wash through her as she slowly removed her batting gloves to assess the damage. Even without looking at it, she knew that she might have fractured or worse, broken a part of her hand.

Her internal struggle was interrupted when their team’s next batter took the batter’s box. She shook her head and focused her head back in the game, but unfortunately, their fifth batter struck out on a perfectly placed fastball on the outside.

She slowly jogged right back at the dugout and was glomped by her teammates. “Eli-chan!!! You’re the best!!!” A couple of third years congratulation her on her RBI. “Come on girls, let Eli get her gear and let’s protect the score, okay?” Their team captain said to them. 

Eli thanked the team before proceeding to the back of the dugout to wear her catcher’s gear. Nozomi helped her wear it as she said to her, “Ericchi, is something wrong? I can see it in your face, you know.” Eli stopped for a bit before continuing to fix her shin guards. “Hm? Everything’s fine, Nozomi. Let’s just focus on not letting them score this inning, okay?”

As Eli strapped on the remaining part of her gear, she stood up and said, “Let’s go?” she then proceeded to move out to the field. Nozomi, on the other hand, can’t help but get worried at Eli, “She’s sweating so much and seems…” She stopped and shook her head to get focused on the game. She followed Eli out to the field and proceeded to the pitcher’s mound. 

Nozomi got her rosin bag from her pocket and powdered her hand to prevent the ball from slipping in her pitches. She looked at Eli who is crouching at the home plate as she prepared to pitch at Eli’s orders. Eli smiled at her before placing her glove at the batter’s strike zone. 

Eli positioned herself at the catcher’s box as she tried to slowly open and close her right hand. A dull, burning pain now replaced the feeling in her hand, ‘Just a bit more…’ She mentally repeated like a mantra in her head. 

As the first batter of stood at the batter’s box, Eli tried to analyze her, ‘She’s a strong inside hitter, but she struck out at two consecutive at-bats with Nozomi’s slider. She might be looking forward to it again, so…’

Eli signaled Nozomi for a pitch and positioned her glove where she wanted Nozomi to pitch it. After Nozomi smiled then nodded at Eli’s instruction, she readied and winded up her first pitch. As she released the ball, the batter swung her bat and to the batter’s surprise, it wasn’t the outside slider that she was waiting for, but a perfectly placed inside fastball. The bat hit the ball weakly and the ball rolled to the direction of the third baseman, who in turn threw the ball safely at Umi in the first base.

“One out!”

Determined, the next batter then hit a big one that fell between the right and center field. Settling on the second base, the third batter then stood on the batter’s box.

‘Nozomi’s last pitch is a little high, that’s why that batter hit it. She’s almost at her limit.’ Eli worriedly thought about it as Nozomi wiped her sweat away on the pitcher’s mound. ‘She looks a bit tired in there, but I know she won’t let anybody replace her at this moment. As stubborn as me, huh Nozomi.’ 

Eli then instructed Nozomi to pitch an outside pitch, as she deduced that the opponent will use a squeeze play to advance their runner to third. True to her senses, as soon as Nozomi released her pitch, the batter changed her posture to a bunt position and followed through the pitch. The ball bounced towards Nozomi as it hit the edge of the batter’s bat. Nozomi picked up the ball and threw it to Umi as the base runner launched herself at the scoring position at the third base. 

“Don’t mind the runner! Two outs!” Honoka shouted from the center field. It was followed by loud, thundering chants at the stands, “Two outs! Two outs! Two outs!”

As the fourth batter came in front of Eli, she released a long breath as she calmed herself down. ‘One more…’ She analyzed the batter again to assess where should Nozomi pitch the ball to get out. She first tried an outside pitch. The batter only let the ball pass through her as she analyzed the speed and trajectory of the pitch. As the pitch hit Eli’s glove, the umpire called out, “Strike!”

Eli held the ball and tried to throw it back to Nozomi when she felt a flash of pain again as she tried to grip the ball. Realizing that she could not throw it back to Nozomi properly, she stood up and called a time out to the umpire. She jogged lightly to Nozomi and stared at her as she gave back the ball. “Nozomi, two outs.” She said to her.

“Mou Ericchi, do you even need to call the time out? Or did you just missed being close to me?” Nozomi teased Eli as she tried to remove the stiff expression on Eli’s face. Eli blushed at Nozomi’s remark as she laughed lightly and replied, “Come on, and let’s finish this.”

Eli jogged back to her place and positioned herself. She opened her glove widely as she instructed Nozomi to throw her best inside pitch. When Nozomi pitched the ball, Eli’s eyes went wide when she saw the batter changed her position into a bunt. 

‘Squeeze play at two outs?!’

The ball landed just in front of her as she reached and caught the ball on the ground. “Throw it to first!” She heard her teammates yell at her. Seeing that the third base runner hasn’t moved, Eli tried to throw the ball to the first base. However, when she tried to, she realized her mistake as a shooting pain went through her arm to her hand, as she lost her grip on the ball. The ball she released went wide of the direction of the first base. The third base runner saw this, and she run with all her might to the home plate.

Umi’s eyes widened up as she saw the high throw of Eli and she stretched out upwards to try and catch the throw. But in the split second that Umi caught the high ball, the batter first stepped onto the first base as the third base runner made her way home. A loud roar of cheers erupted at the stands as the Otonakizaka Academy’s opponent; UTX High scored and won the tournament. They had become the Tokyo representative to the Summer Koshien.

-

Eli couldn’t believe her eyes as their opponents celebrated their victory right in front of her. Jumping around, their opponents cried their tears of joy as they went on to hug each other in happiness. Eli slowly slumped into the ground as her closed her both her hands so hard and hit the ground repeatedly in frustration. She could not even feel her throbbing right hand as the hollow feeling in her heart was more painful than the physical pain of her hand. 

A shadow entered her field of view as she felt a hand on her shoulders. Not raising her head, the person kneeled down, stopped Eli from pounding the ground and hugged her tightly. As Eli heard soft sobs coming from her, tears from Eli’s eyes fell uncontrollably as she hugged her back, “N-n-nozomi, I-it’s my fault…”

Nozomi shook her head firmly while still in Eli’s embrace, before she pushed Eli a little to face her. “No, it’s nobody’s fault, Ericchi.” She said with conviction in her eyes. People around them started to line up and Nozomi tried to reach Eli’s hand to help her stand up when Eli flinched hard when she touched her hand. “…Ericchi?” Nozomi moved her stare from Eli’s eyes that turned away to her hand. “D-did you …” She was cut off by someone calling them from behind.

“Eli, Nozomi, they’re calling us to line up.” Nico said as she tried to stop her own tears from falling out. Her pride couldn’t let her cry at this moment. The team did their best, it’s just wasn’t enough.

Nozomi looked at Nico and said to her before she stood up and left them, “Stay here with Ericchi, I’ll call the captain.” Nozomi jogged to where the rest of the team is and asked their captain, “Captain, can you come with me for a bit?” A bit confused, their captain followed Nozomi to where she left Nico and Eli. As they were walking back, Nozomi whispered to their captain, “I think Ericchi injured her hand in the game.” Their captain’s eyes widened and got worried as she jogged to Nico and Eli. She kneeled down and gently grabbed Eli’s hand to inspect it. When she saw Eli flinched and bit her lips, she asked her carefully, “When did this happen?” 

Eli was not answering the questions when the umpire called them to line up for the final time in the field. Before they stood up, their captain said to them, “Hurry, let’s line up, and let the doctor assess that immediately.”

The two teams lined up with their heads held high as the umpire announced, “Score is 6-5, the winner and the one proceeding to Koshien is UTX High!!” The cheers from the stands thundered before them. The crowd from UTX was very ecstatic about their teams’ victory. As their team went back to the dugout, their captain went to their vice captain to say some instructions before leaving with the rest of the second years, “Eli’s injured. You girls can go back to the school. Don’t say anything to the rest of the team before we can confirm everything.”

-

A tense atmosphere enveloped a small room inside the stadium. Three teammates sat behind and observed the situation in front of her.

“It’s a bit tender here and it’s beginning to swell up.” The doctor commented as he was examining Eli’s hand. “You should go to the hospital and do an x-ray or an MRI, but I think you fractured your hand during the game. When did this happen?” 

“…When I was batting in the 9th inning.” Eli answered with a quiet voice.

The doctor was about to say something again when Nico suddenly yelled, “Why didn’t you say anything back then?!”

“Nicocchi.” Nozomi said, trying to stop Nico from escalating the situation further.

“Ayase-san, you should have stopped playing when you injured your hand. Continuous playing may cause irreparable damage. You may have to stop playing from 6-8 weeks to let this heal perfectly depending on the final diagnosis at hospital.” The doctor calmly said to Eli before he stood up and left them. Eli just nodded from the doctor’s orders before looking at her teammates. Seeing them now just made her feel guiltier than before. Not even the caring look from Nozomi appeased what she was feeling right now. She was convinced that it was her fault that the team lost the game, that the third years will graduate without even stepping at Koshien.

Eli slowly stood up from her chair and walked towards the door. Eli stopped by the door and looked back at Nico with a tired expression and said, “Nico, sorry.” Nozomi also stood up and messaged to the other two to leave everything up to her before following Eli. 

Nico was surprised at Eli and all her anger had dissipated down and turned to worry. She has never seen Eli have that kind of expression and she never apologizes that easily, whatever the circumstance is. 

One year ago…

‘You know, my dream is to become a pro baseball player and make it into the major league.’ Nico told Eli as they cleaned up the baseball field after their practice.

‘I’m sure you’ll make it Nico.’ Eli replied to her with an encouraging smile.

“Haa… You’re good enough to have the powerhouse schools scout you, but for me, we need to go to Koshien so that the scouts can see me play. But our team… We haven’t even made it in the final eight of the regional tournament since the inception of our school... What a record.’ Nico sighed out loud. 

‘Don’t worry Nico, I’ll make sure that we will go to Koshien this time. I promise to you that we will play baseball on the peak of summer in that stadium.’ Eli grinned and put out a V-sign as she promised Nico.

Nico deflated down in her chair and realized that Eli still remembered her promise from long ago. She didn’t realize the burden it might have caused Eli all this time.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hope you enjoyed reading this!


End file.
